LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

Preliminary Procedures

The procedures for introducing legislation and seeing it through committees

are similar in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Legislative proposals originate in a number of different ways. Members of
the Senate, of course, develop ideas for legislation. Technical assistance in
research and drafting legislative language is available at the Senate Legislative
Technical Affairs Bureau. Special interest groupsbusiness, religious, labor,
urban and rural poor, consumers, trade association, and the likeare other
fertile sources of legislation. Constituents, either as individuals or groups, also
may propose legislation. Frequently, a member of the Senate will introduce such
a bill by request, whether or not he supports its purposes.
It must be noted also that much of the needed legislation of the country today
considered by Congress originates from the executive branch. Each year after
the President of the Philippines outlines his legislative program in his State-ofthe-Nation Address, executive departments and agencies transmit to the House
and the Senate drafts of proposed legislations to carry out the Presidents
program.
Introduction of Bills

No matter where a legislative proposal originates, it can be introduced only

by a member of Congress. In the Senate, a member may introduce any of several
types of bills and resolutions by filing it with the Office of the Secretary.
There is no limit to the number of bills a member may introduce. House and
Senate bills may have joint sponsorship and carry several members' names.
Major legislation is often introduced in both houses in the form of companion
(identical) bills, the purpose of which is to speed up the legislative process by
encouraging both chambers to consider the measure simultaneously. Sponsors of
companion bills may also hope to dramatize the importance or urgency of the
issue and show broad support for the legislation.
Types of Legislation

The type of measures that Congress may consider and act upon (in addition
to treaties in the Senate) include bills and three kinds of resolutions. They are:
1. Bills
These are general measures, which if
passed upon, may become laws. A bill is
prefixed with S., followed by a number
assigned the measure based on the order

in which it is introduced. The vast

majority of legislative proposals
recommendations dealing with the economy,
increasing penalties for certain crimes,
regulation on commerce and trade, etc.,
are drafted in the form of bills. They
also include budgetary appropriation of
the government and many others. When
passed by both chambers in identical form
and signed by the President or repassed
by Congress over a presidential veto,
they become laws.
2. Joint Resolutions
A joint resolution, like a bill,
requires the approval of both houses and
the signature of the President. It has
the force and effect of a law if
approved. There is no real difference
between a bill and a joint resolution.
The latter generally is used when dealing
with a single item or issue, such as a
continuing or emergency appropriations
bill. Joint resolutions are also used for
proposing amendments to the Constitution.
3. Concurrent Resolutions
A concurrent resolution is usually
designated in the Senate as S. Ct. Res.
It is used for matters affecting the
operations of both houses and must be
passed in the same form by both of them.
However, they are not referred to the
President for his signature, and they do
not have the force of law. Concurrent
resolutions are used to fix the time of
adjournment of a Congress and to express
the sense of Congress on an issue.
4. Simple Resolutions
It is usually designated with P. S.
Res. A simple resolution deals with
matters entirely within the prerogative
of one house of Congress, such as
adopting or receiving its own rules. A
simple resolution is not considered by
the other chamber and is not sent to the
President for his signature. Like a
concurrent resolution, it has no effect
and force of a law. Simple resolutions
are used occasionally to express the

opinion of a single house on a current

issue. Oftentimes, it is also used to
call for a congressional action on an
issue affecting national interest.
Bill Referrals

Once a measure has been introduced and given a number, it is read and
referred to an appropriate committee. It must be noted that during the reading
of the bill, only the title and the author is read on the floor. The Senate President
is responsible for referring bills introduced to appropriate committees.
The jurisdictions of the Standing Committees are spelled out in Rule X,
Section 13 of the Rules of the Senate. For example, if a bill involves matters
relating to agriculture, food production and agri-business, it must be referred to
the Committee on Agriculture and Food.
In Committee

The standing committees of the Senate, operating as little legislatures,

determine the fate of most proposals. There are committee hearings scheduled to
discuss the bills referred. Committee members and staff frequently are experts in
the subjects under their jurisdiction, and it is at the committee stage that a bill
comes under the sharpest scrutiny. If a measure is to be substantially revised, the
revision usually occurs at the committee level.
A committee may dispose of a bill in one of several ways: it may approve, or
reject, the legislation with or without amendments; rewrite the bill entirely;
reject it, which essentially kills the bill; report it favorably or without
recommendation, which allows the chamber to consider the bill at all. It must be
noted that under Section 29, Rule XI of the Rules of the Senate, if the reports
submitted are unfavorable, they shall be transmitted to the archives of the
Senate, unless five Senators shall, in the following session, move for their
inclusion in the Calendar for Ordinary Business, in which case the President
shall so order.
Committee Reports

A committee report describes the purpose and scope of the bill,

explains any committee amendments, indicates proposed changes
in existing law and such other materials that are relevant.
Moreover, reports are numbered in the order in which they are
filed and printed.
Calendaring for Floor Debates

Under Section 45 of Rule XVI of the Rules of the Senate, the Senate shall have
three calendars, to wit:

A Calendar for Ordinary Business," in which shall

be included the bills reported out by the committees
in the order in which they were received by the
Office
of
the
Secretary;
the
bills
whose
consideration has been agreed upon by the Senate
without setting the dates on which to effect it; and
also the bills whose consideration has been
postponed indefinitely;
A Calendar for Special Orders, in which the
bills and resolutions shall be arranged successively
and chronologically, according to the order in which
they were assigned for consideration; and
A Calendar for Third Reading, in which shall be
included all bills and joint resolutions approved on
second reading.
Thus, a bill which has a committee report can be referred to the Calendar
for Ordinary Business. It may again be moved to its Special Order of
Business for priority action.
On the other hand, the consideration and debate of bills and resolutions are
spelled out in Rule XXV, Section 71 of the Rules of the Senate. It provides as
follows:

Sec. 71. The Senate shall adopt the following

procedure in the consideration of bills and joint
resolutions:
(a) Second reading of the bill.
(b)
Sponsorship
by
the
committee
chairman, or by any member designated by
the committee.
(c) If a debate ensues, turns for and
against
the
bill
shall
be
taken
alternately: Provided, however, That any
committee member who fails to enter his
objection or to make of record his
dissenting vote after it shall have been
included in the Order of Business and
read to the Senate in accordance with the
second paragraph of Section 24 hereof,
shall not be allowed to speak against the
bill during the period of general debate
although he may propose and speak or vote
on amendments thereto.
(d) The sponsor of the bill or author of
the motion shall have the right to close
the debate.

(e)
With
the
debate
closed,
consideration of amendments, if
shall be in order.

the
any,

(f) After the period of amendments, the

voting of the bill on Second Reading.
(g) Bills shall be submitted to final
vote by yeas and nays after printed
copies thereof in final form have been
distributed to the Members at least three
(3) days prior to their passage, except
when the President of the Philippines
certifies to the necessity of their
immediate enactment to meet a public
calamity or emergency, in which case the
voting on Third Reading may take place
immediately after second reading.
After the bill is approved on Third Reading, it will be submitted to the House
of Representatives for consideration. A bill passed by the Senate and transmitted
to the House usually goes to a committee, unless a House bill on the same subject
has already been reported out by the appropriate committee and placed on the
calendar.
Under normal procedures, therefore, a bill passed by one chamber and
transmitted to the other is referred to the appropriate committee, from which it
must follow the same route to passage as a bill originating from that chamber.
Amendments may be offered at both the committee and floor action stages,
and the bill as it emerges from the second chamber may differ significantly from
the version passed by the first. A frequently used procedure when this occurs is
for the chamber that acts last to bring up the other chambers bill and substitute
its own version, then retaining only the latters bill number. That numbered bill,
containing the Senate and House version, is then sent to a conference committee
to resolve all differences.
Conference Committee Action

Calling a Conference
Either chamber can request a conference once both have considered the same
legislation. Generally, the chamber that approved the legislation first will
disagree to the amendments made by the second body and will make a request
that a conference be convened. Sometimes, however, the second body will ask for
a conference immediately after it has passed the legislation, assuming that the
other chamber will not accept its amendments.
Selection of Conferees

Under the Rules of the Senate (Rule XII, Section 34), the Senate President
shall designate the members of the Senate panel in the conference committee
with the approval of the Senate. The Senate delegation to a conference can range
in size from three to a larger number, depending on the length and complexity of
the legislation involved.
Authority of Conferees
The authority given to the Senate conferees theoretically is limited to matters
in disagreement between the two chambers. They are not authorized to delete
provisions or language agreed to by both the House and the Senate as to draft
entirely new provisions.
In practice, however, the conferees have wide latitude, except where the
matters in disagreement are very specific. Moreover, conferees attempt to
reconcile their differences, but generally they try to grant concession only insofar
as they remain confident that the chamber they represent will accept the
compromise.
The Conference Report
When the conferees have reached agreement on a bill, the conference
committee staff writes a conference report indicating changes made in the bill
and explaining each sides actions.
Once a conference committee completes its works, it can now be submitted to
the floor for its approval. Debate on conference reports is highly privileged and
can interrupt most other business.
Approval of the conference report by both houses, along with any
amendments on disagreement, constitutes final approval of the bill.
Final Legislative Action

After both houses have given final approval to a bill, a final copy of the bill,
known as the enrolled bill, shall be printed, and certified as correct by the
Secretary of the Senate and the Secretary General of the House of
Representatives. After which, it will be signed by the Speaker of the House and
the Senate President.
A bill may become a law, even without the Presidents signature, if the
President does not sign a bill within 30 days from receipt in his office. A bill may
also become a law without the Presidents signature if Congress overrides a
presidential veto by two-thirds vote.
Summary

The following is a summary of how a bill becomes a law:

Filing/Calendaring for First Reading

A bill is filed in the Office of the Secretary
where it is given a corresponding number and
calendared for First Reading.
First Reading
Its title, bill number, and authors name are
read on the floor, after which it is referred to the
proper committee.
Committee Hearings/Report
Committee conducts hearings and consultation
meetings. It then either approves the proposed bill
without an amendment, approves it with changes, or
recommends
substitution
or
consolidation
with
similar bills filed.
Calendaring for Second Reading
The Committee Report with its approved bill
version is submitted to the Committee on Rules for
calendaring for Second Reading.
Second Reading
Bill author delivers sponsorship speech on the
floor. Senators engage in debate, interpellation,
turno en contra, and rebuttal to highlight the pros
and cons of the bill. A period of amendments
incorporates necessary changes in the bill proposed
by the committee or introduced by the Senators
themselves on the floor.
Voting on Second Reading
Senators vote on the second reading version of
the bill. If approved, the bill is calendared for
third reading.
Voting on Third Reading
Printed copies of the bills final version are
distributed to the Senators. This time, only the
title of the bill is read on the floor. Nominal
voting is held. If passed, the approved Senate bill
is referred to the House of Representatives for
concurrence.
At the House of Representatives

The Lower Chamber follows the same procedures

(First Reading, Second Reading and Third Reading).
Back to the Senate
If the House-approved version is compatible with
that of the Senates, the final versions enrolled
form is printed. If there are certain differences, a
Bicameral
Conference
Committee
is
called
to
reconcile conflicting provisions of both versions of
the Senate and of the House of Representatives.
Conference
committee
submits
report
on
the
reconciled version of the bill, duly approved by
both chambers. The Senate prints the reconciled
version in its enrolled form.
Submission to Malacaang
Final enrolled form is submitted to Malacaang.
The President either signs it into law, or vetoes
and sends it back to the Senate with veto message.